wharton



2 Sheets-Sheet l. W. J. WHARTON.

PRIVY.

Patented Apr. 3, 1888.

UNiTnD STATES PATENT Orifice@ VILLIAM J. IVHARTON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

PRIVY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 380,540, dated April S, i888.

Application filed J anuary 13, 1888. Serial No. 260,653. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. Wnnnron, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inIrivies; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part vof this specification, and in which- Figure l is a plan view of a privy or water1 closet such as is usually found in railwaycars. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the same on the line denoted by :rx in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse cross-section of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a modiiied form of myinvention, and Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the brace at the lower end of the lifting-rod.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in the several figures.

My invention has relation to privies or water-closets which are intended more particu` larly for use on railway-cars, and has for its object to so construct these privies that they may be used continuously, whether the car is in motion or is at a standstill at a station.

In order to fully understand the nature and object of my invention it may be well to inl vite attention to the fact that the municipalities of nearly all the cities and towns through which railway-tracks are laid for the passage of trains have established ordinances, which are rigidly enforced, compelling railway companies to see that the doors of the car-privies are closed while the train is waiting at a station and while, in leaving or arriving at the station, it passes through the streets oi' the town or city. The reason of such ordinances is obvious, but is nevertheless a great inconvenience to the passengers occupying the car, and especially to invalids, who often suffer great pain and inconvenience because they cannot have access to the watercloset, however urgent their needs may be.

Now the object of my invention is to so construct the privies or waterclosets that there will be no need of denying the passengers access to and use of the same at any time. In

other words, the door of the closet need not be locked; but the closet may be available at all times, whether the train is standing still at a station or whether it has passed through the public thoroughfares of the town or city.

The advantages of this improvement are so obvious as to not require recapitulation. It will prevent the distress caused by forcing passengers to wait probably for a considerable time, and while it will thus relieve the occupants of a railway-car from physical anguish and inconvenience it will at the same time relieve the railways ofthe annoyance of having claims for damages presented against them resulting from the illness and from other causes which often result from the practice of lool;- ing the privydoors against passengers.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the letter A denotes the Jdoor of the privy of a railway-car, and B the outer wall of the same, which is usually formed by one side of the car-body and provided with a window, C.

D denotes the roof of the closet, which is usually also the roof of the car, and E and F indicate the transverse partitions which,with the rear wall, B, and front partition, G, form the closet, said front partition being provided with the usual door, H. Of course the closet may be located in any convenient part of the car and the position of the door and window may be altered to suit varying conditions and circumstances, as these form no part of my improvement.

Theletter I denotes the seat of the closet, which is provided with a bowl, I, of any desired shape, construction, and material. The lower part or outlet of this bowl projects downwardly through the `door A in the usual manner, and below the outlet of the same is arranged a movable vessel or receptacle, J, swinging on a hinge, K,which is fastened to the support L. ./Vhen this swinging receptacle is in its closed or operative position, as shown in full line in the drawings, it will be immediately below the outlet of the bowl I and will form a receiver or receptacle for any matter deposited in the bowl. When, however, the receptacle J is swung into the position indicated by the dotted lines, it will be seen that it is placed at such an angle that its contents may be readily emptied, and at the same time it will be withdrawn from the outlet of bowl I,

IOO

so that any matter deposited in the bowl when the movable receptacle is in this position will be deposited upon the ground beneath the car.

In practice the receiver or receptacle J should be made of sufficient capacity to hold a reasonable amount of matter without any danger of overiiow. Inside of the closet is also arranged, at any convenient point, the usual urinal, M, the spout of which (denoted by the letter N) extends below the floor of the closet into a swinging receiver (denoted by the letter J') which is in all essential respects acounterpart of the swinging receiver J, already described. Like the receiver J, this second receptacle, J', is attached, by means of a hinge, K', to a fixed support, L', fastened to any suitable part of the car-body. IVhen the receiver J' is in its closed position, as indicated in the drawings, it will receive the fluid which is poured through the urinal M and its spout N, whereas when it is swung into the position indicated in dotted lines it will be in such a position as to readily empty itself, and in that position it will be seen that t-he lower end of thespout discharges directly upon the ground below the car.

The two hinged and movable receivers J and J' are operated as follows: A stout rod or bar, O, confined within suitable guides or keepers, l? P, projects through an aperture in the floor of the car and is provided at its upper end with a suitable handle, Q. For the sake of convenience this handle may rest in a recess or depression in the floor and is held in this position by means of a latch, R, pivoted on the car-floor. At the lower end of rod O, projecting at right angles from the same, is a bracket, b, at the outer end of which is ahorizontal arm, T. The bracket S and arm T are suitably braced to give them the desired amount of stiffness and rigidity, so as to prevent them from bending. One end of arm T extends in the hinged receiver J and the other arm extends in the direction of the hinged receiver J Two arms or connections (denoted, respectively, by the reference-letters U U') are hinged or pivoted to the opposite free ends of arm T, and are connected pivotally to the receivers J and J', respectively, by the joints or hinges V and V'. When the Vrod O is in the position shown in full line on the drawingsthat is to say, when it is lowered to its full capacity--the arm T, in conjunction with the connecting-brackets U and U', will form a stiff brace, holding the receptacles J and J in their closed position, so that these lcannot possibly swing back upon their hinges. On the other hand, when this rod is folded up, so asto occupy the position indicated in dotted lines,thehin ged brackets or connectionsUand U' will pullupon the receptacles to which they are respectively connected, so as to swing these back into the positions indicated in dotted lines, in which positions, as we have already seen, they will be freely emptied of their contents, at the same time opening the outlet for the bowl I `and spout N. In order to retain the receptacles J and J in this open position, I employ any suitable means-such as a hook or latchadapted to engage the handle Q.. and thereby prevent the rod from slipping down through the floor.

Instead of employing two seperate receivers, as shown in Figs. l and 3, the spoutN may, after it passes through the floor, be carried to one side, so as to overlap the receptacle J, as shown in Fig. 4, and when this construction is employed it is obvious that I dispense with the receptacle J', making the receptacle J do duty for both purposes. In that case. however, this receptacle J should be made of sufficient capacity to answer both purposesviz., to act as a tank or receptacle for matter deposited not only through the bowl I, but also through the urinal.

W'hile in the drawings I have shown an operating-rod, O, `adapted to be raised by hand,

which may easily be done, as it requires only very little force to work it, yet it is obvious that a system of levers may readily be arranged ICO J and J' are respectively hinged, in the nature of a drum or cylinder, the upper rim of which` is attached to the door, while the lower edge or rim is of such asize and configuration that it will correspond in shape to the shape of that part of the reversible receptacle which, when it is closed, impinges upon its lower rim. Of course the hinged receptacles need not be connected to the cylinders Lor L', but may be hinged to any other suitable supports if it should be found inconvenient to hinge them directly to said cylinders. When the recepf tacles J and J' are closed, as indicated in full line inthe drawings, they will impingc closely upon the lower rim or rims of said cylinders L and L', so as to form a practical tight joint. This is for the purpose of preventing splash-` ing of the contents of said receptacles while in their closed position, and, if desired, a gasket of rubber or any other suitable elastic material may be arranged around the lower part of the cylinders L and L for the purpose of effecting a tight joint, or any other suitable means may be employed for making the joints practically tight and prevent splashing or spilling of the contents of the receptacles while the cars are in motion before it is time to open the same for the purpose of emptying them of their contents. These downward projections or cylinders (although theyneed not by any means be cylindrical in shape, although for convenience I term them cylinders) con- IIO stitute an important feature in my invention, inasmuch as without them the fluid contents of the receptacles will be apt to spill or splash; but by closing them tightly against the lower rim of said cylinders such splashing or spilling is absolutely prevented. The length of these downward projections L and L will of course depend upon the particular construction of the car to which my invention is to be applied.

In practice the operation of this deviceis as follows: Vhen the car enters the precincts of a town or city, the brakeman, instead of locking the door to the closet, as is now the practice, simply enters the same, and by lowering the rod O swings the receptacles J and J into their closed position underneath the bowl I, casing L and spout N. Owing to the arrangement of the arm or brace T and connectingbraces U and U', the said receptacles will be held fixed in this position without possibility of their swinging back of their own accord.

In this position it will be seen that all matterV deposited through the bowl I and the urinal L will not be deposited upon the ground, but will be received and stored in the respective receptacles, from which said contents are prevented froni splashing over by means of the casing, L and L, against the lower edges of which said receptacles respectively impinge. Vhen the train again starts, and after it shall have left the outskirts of the city, all the brake` man has to do is simply again to enter the closet, and, by raising the rod O, reverse the receptacles J and J, so as to empty the same and afford a free outlet for the bowl and urinalspout. Thus it will be seen that the occupants of the car can have free access and use of the closet at any time during their stay in the car, even whenit is standingstill within a railway-depot.

While this improvement is designed especially for use on railway-cars, I desire it distinctly understood that I do not desire its application limited to that particular purpose, as it may be employed with advantage for many other purposes-for example, on 'shipboard, in private residences, or under other conditions where it is desirable to have such an arrangement. The most urgent need for such a contrivance, however, appears at present to be in the construction of railway-cars, both ordinary passenger-coaches, sleeping-cars, and so-called drawing-room cars.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesl. The combination, with the privy-bowl I and its outlet, of the hinged tank or receptacle J, arranged below the same, a movable joint or connecting-rod, and a verticai reciprocating rod provided at its lower end with a right-angled arm or brace connected pivotally to the movable joint or connecting-rod, substantially as shown and set forth.

2. The combination of the swinging receptacles J J jointed lock connections U U, pivoted thereto, the arm T, pivoted at each end to the said lock-connections, and a vertically-reciprocating rod secured to the intermediate portion of said arm, substantially as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. WHABTON.

Witnesses:

Louis BAGGER, ARTHUR L. MoRsELL. 

